%0 Journal Article %T Meeting patient expectations and ensuring satisfaction in total knee arthroplasty %A Bin Abd Razak, Hamid Rahmatullah %A Yeo, Seng Jin %J Annals of Translational Medicine %D 2015 %B 2015 %9 %! Meeting patient expectations and ensuring satisfaction in total knee arthroplasty %K %X Osteoarthritis (OA) of the hips and knees is estimated to be the fourth leading cause of functional disability globally. OA is strongly associated with ageing and the Asian region is indeed aging rapidly. The morbidity burden of OA in Asia is significantly increasing (1). In Asia, there is a greater demand for a pain-free knee joint of good range of motion due to cultural, religious or simply lifestyle reasons. Asians are more likely to squat and kneel for prolonged periods of time. Prolonged squatting has been suggested to account for a significant variation in prevalence of knee OA between Chinese subjects from Beijing, China and White subjects participating in the Framingham OA study (2). Total knee arthroplasty (TKA) has been thought to be the definitive solution for chronic mechanical knee pain secondary to OA. the definitive solution for chronic mechanical knee pain secondary to OA. The number of TKAs performed has been increasing steadily over the years according to the national registry in Seoul, Korea (3), as with the rest of the Asia-Pacific region. However, patients’ expectations of TKA outcomes seem to differ from the measured outcomes of the surgery (4). Most expected patient-reported outcomes were improvement in pain, restoration of function and resolution of need for assistive devices. There is a significant difference between actual and expected activities after TKA for OA. While TKA relieves pain and restores function beyond doubt, several studies have showed that only 82- 89% of patients expressed satisfaction after their primary total knee replacement (5-12). Patient satisfaction is fast becoming an important tool for assessing outcome of TKA (13). However, patient satisfaction is a complex phenomenon that is affected by many elements that determine health-related quality of life (14). This is influenced by the patient’s cultural, social and psychological make as well. It is well known that many cultural practices in Asia requires the patient to kneel and/or squat and the ability to achieve this post-TKA will undoubtedly have some impact of patient satisfaction scores. Good clinical and functional outcome as determined by clinicians does not always equate to patient satisfaction as the difference between patients’ and clinicians’ perception of good outcomes is well known (15). This has led to the development and validation of patient-reported outcome measures (PROMs) or otherwise known as patient satisfaction scores in orthopaedic surgery. While there are numerous tools to measure patient satisfaction after these procedures, it is the long-term satisfaction that is the most important goal of surgery in patients with OA (11). This editorial will evaluate patient satisfaction following TKA as well as the factors that have a profound influence on satisfaction. %U https://atm.amegroups.org/article/view/7947 %V 3 %N 20 %P 315 %@ 2305-5847